I’m thrilled to be teaming up with All Thing Kids this month for our series on using recycled materials for play. We’re sharing a round-up of our most creative recycled crafts and activities for kids. For even more fun activities, check out All Things Kids Pinterest Board.

Recycling materials for crafts and activities is a great way to conserve and reuse for play projects. It was a hard choice, but our #1 go-to recycled material is Baby O’s containers. They’re perfect for caves, tunnels, bridges, slides, ramps, vases, and more. We’ve cut, glued, painted, connected, and even paper mached them for projects. Toilet paper and egg cartons are strong contenders too. Continue reading →

All Thing Kids bloggers are teaming up this month to bring you an exciting series on Showing Kids Love. We’re each focusing on one of the 5 Love Languages – Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, Physical Touch, and ours – Words of Affirmation. All Done Monkey shares a wonderful introduction post for our series this month, Showing Kids Love.

Words of affirmations are a language of love. These positive loving affirmations serve as visual reminders to help children (adults too) focus on a particular purpose. Giving children these powerful tools helps them build self-confidence, inner strength, and positive attitudes. As their language develops, they’ll learn to use these affirmations in everyday life. To explore our love language, we’re making an affirmation box. It makes a creative, fun valentine box too.Continue reading →

Let’s upcycle some old wooden blocks into homemade stamps today! With just a few materials, your child will be able to create simple stamps that are fun and reusable. Have a holiday coming up? Use festive foam stickers to make a personalized card.

Materials Needed:

Wooden toy blocks

Foam stickers

Stamping ink pads

Paper

What’s Next:

Gather your wooden blocks. We used old alphabet blocks. If you’re using abc blocks, have your child identify the letters and the sounds they make or have them pick only vowels {love the lessons}.

Next, have your child peel, then stick the foam stickers on the blocks. Peel & stick is a great activity to help their fine-motor skills needed for preschool.

Lastly, press the stamps into the ink {we only has gold and tan, bright colors would be more fun} and stamp away! Set aside to dry and enjoy! C wasn’t so sure about the bird, lol!

It’s totally tie-dye time – kid style! Using a spray bottle or squeeze bottle is much easier and a lot less messy than traditional tie-dyeing. Your child can choose their dye pattern and colors too. Up-cycle an old t-shirt into something new! Let’s explore cause and effect today! Continue reading →

Pop, pop, pop! Let’s paint with bubble wrap today! This activity makes learning shapes fun! Plus, a quick lesson is color recognition, tracing, and cutting! Not only is it fun, but its a great sensory experience too. This would make a super fun Valentines Day craft too – heart bubble wrap painted cards. Continue reading →

This is our fun twist on mosaic art ― yarn style! You can up-cylce just about any container, add some colorful yarn and gems, and you’ll have a beautiful kid-made vase! This fun craft will challenge those skills needed for pre-school ― fine motor, cutting, and gluing.

Materials Needed:

Plastic container (we up-cycled a Happy Tot’s O’s container)

Yarn in many colors and varieties

Scissors

White, non-toxic glue

Sequins or gems (optional)

What’s Next:

First we began by cutting the yarn into different lengths, using varying colors and textures. C loved this part! Next, create lines and patterns on the container with the glue and cover the glue lines with the yarn. If the glue dries, add more as you go. We used a lot of glue! Tip: It helps to wash your hands periodically to remove the glue. Also, using the point of something helps stop the yarn from sticking to your fingers.

For fun bling we added sequins and gems to help in shine! Set aside to dry. C threw his arms up and said, “I’m done!” He lasted about 10 minutes, then we took a break and came back to it. If I did it again, I’d choose a smaller canvas for my three year old.

A good alternative to the yarn is sequins and gems — just glue and stick for a mosaic “tile” vase! You can use cardboard or a shoe box to make a picture or use the decorated container to collect and store things — lots of options!

We love recycling materials to make fun, easy crafts for kids. Our egg carton caterpillar is great for story-time and pretend play.

Material Needed:

Paper egg carton

Scissors

Pipe cleaners

Paint or markers

What’s Next:

First, cut the egg carton in half lengthwise. I used adult scissors for this part, it was tough. Tip: To make it look more rounded, cut the base off around the edges, but AFTER you paint it. If you cut before, it compromises the strength of it. The seams at the top started to break where the colors met. Next, choose your medium — paint or markers.

Little C started to paint, then it was ATTACK of the animals, lol!

He ended up doing an animal foot print painting and I finished the caterpillar. Set aside to dry then draw a face on the front of the caterpillar.

Turn the carton upside down and help your child poke two short pieces of pipe cleaner through one end to create antennae; bend over tips, they are pointy! Let your child’s imagination soar as they play with their new caterpillar! Little C decided to have a snack with his, lol! 😉

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